Social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace can be a fun way to keep in touch and procrastinate, but face it, sending your friends virtual gifts or turning them into zombies isn't going to do much to advance your education or career. However, a growing number of web sites are applying the power of online networking to the academic and professional realm. So when you need a break from poking around Facebook, check out some of these alternative social networks geared to connect you with people and new ideas in your field.

• Aggregat8 is a social networking and collaboration space for the IT community brought to you by MicrosoftTechNet and Culminis.

• BioMedExperts is a new scientific literature-based social networking platform that connects biomedical researchers. Sponsored by Collexis.

• chemistry.org/exchange is an online scientific community that serves as an article repository allowing you to share and comment on articles. Sponsored by the American Chemical Society

• CR4 Conference Room 4 is a forum for engineers, scientists and technical researchers to discuss engineering news, seek technical help and get answers to questions. It's supported by GlobalSpec, the Engineering Search Engine.

• Epsilen offers, in addition to social networking for academics, several web based tools for course management, social learning assessment, peer review, and collaboration. It is the result of six years of research and development activities at the CyberLab, Purdue School of Engineering and Technology.

• LinkedIn is not geared towards a specific discipline and is the largest professional networking site with over 17 million members.

• Nature Network is a global network for scientists brought to you by the publishers of Nature. Boston and London are currently the only local hubs but more are coming.